Tennis ball carrier and dispenser



Dec. 27, 1960 A. N. NELSON mums BALL CARRIER AND DISPENSER Fild Aug. 21, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Alfred N. Nelson BY 27 I8 FIG.4.

ATTORNEY Dec. 27, 1960 A. N. NELSON TENNIS BALL CARRIER AND DISPENSER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 21, 1958 I I I l INVENTOR. Alfred N. Nelson ATTORNEY 2,966,280 1C6 P tented Dec. 27,

TENNIS BALL CARRIER AND DISPENSER Alfred N. Nelson, 15321 41st Ave., Flushing 54, N.Y.

Filed Aug. 21, 1958, Ser. No. 756,333

'3 Claims. (Cl. 221-307) This invention relates to a tennis ball carrier and dispeuser adapted to be detachably secured to the tennis racket press.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a tennis ball carrier and dispenser adapted to be secured to a tennis racket press from which the tennis balls can be taken out one at a time and in which the remaining ball or balls are extended forwardly by a spring within the containers and made ready to be easily removed, the outermost balls being held against displacement by a curved steel spring extended over the ball container.

It is another object of the invention to provide a tennis ball carrier and dispenser which has an article-carrying box formed as a part thereof so that cigarettes, lipsticks and other items normally taken'to the tennis court may be carried with the tennis balls and by which the containers for the tennis balls may be connected by their lower ends in a detachable manner to the dispenser frame.

It is still another object of the invention to provide in a tennis ball carrier and dispenser for a racket press self-contained spring dispensing assemblies adapted to receive the standard tennis ball container to provide a dispenser thereof for three tennis balls and wherein the standard ball container without alteration can be detachably secured by means of the spring assembly and of a detachable article carrier box to the dispenser frame to hold the containers upon the spring containers.

It is a further object of the invention to provide the tennis ball carrier and dispenser with an article carrying box having a cover thereon, which, by its frame can be attached to the tennis racket press by simply removing the four wing nuts and washers of the racket press and placing over the bolts the dispenser frame, then putting back the wing nuts and the washers and tightening the press if upon the racket and six tennis balls will be made ready for immediate use.

It is a still further objeect of the invention to provide a tennis ball carrier and dispenser that can be presented as a tennis trophy, finished in chrome or made of silver and on which there are adequate areas on which the name of the winning player, the tennis club name, the date and other data may be inscribed and by which there would be provided a trophy that would not just be of sentimental value alone but would be useful and could be constantly displayed to the public as an award which the player had won.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a tennis ball carrier and dispenser for use with tennis racket presses, which is of simple construction, inexpensive to manufacture, has a minimum number of parts, of pleasing appearance, durable and compact, effective and eflicient in use.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a front plan view of the tennis ball carrier and dispenser mounted on a racket press,

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the dispenser and the press,

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the dispenser and the press,

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken through one of the dispenser containers and as viewed on line 44 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken on line 5--5 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 6 is a front elevational view of a tennis ball carrier and dispenser constructed according to another form of the invention, the article box being removable from the base attaching plate,

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view of the dispenser shown in Fig. 6 and as viewed on line 7-7 thereof,

Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional view of the dispenser shown in Fig. 6 as viewed on line 8-8 thereof,

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the lower end of the dispenser base attaching plate and looking upon theparallel projections serving for releasably securing the article box thereto, and

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the article box removed from the dispenser base attaching plate.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 1 to 5, there is shown a racket press P comprising opposing press frames 15 and 16 between which the racket R is disposed. These frames are provided with press bolts 17, one in each corner thereof and wing nuts 18 by which the frames 15 and 16 are normally tightened together upon the racket R. Compression springs 19 are provided on the respective bolts 17 to normally keep the frames separated from one another when they are loosened so that the racket can be easily fitted into the press.

An article box 21 is secured to a base plate 22 and this base plate is in turn provided with spaced holes through which the bolts 17 at the lower end of the press P can be inserted, upon the wing nuts being removed, so that the base plate can be assembled and afixed to the racket press, and upon the wing nuts being put back upon the bolts and can be tightened with the press upon racket R.

This box 21 provides a compartment 23 in which articles, such as cigarettes, compacts, lipsticks and sundry other items can be disposed and carried. A cover 24 is hinged to the upper edge of the box 21 as indicated at 25 and secured in a closed position by a latch ring member 26 on a tension spring 27 that is anchored to a pin 28 on the box 21. This latch ring 26 is releasably secured to a button projection 29 on the cover 24. By simply removing the latch ring 25 from the cover projection 29, the cover can be hinged outwardly, the button projection 29 being used like a knob.

Disposed above the box 21 and secured to the upper side thereof in the manner to be presently described are two ball containers 3% and 31. Within each of these containers is an internal coil dispensing spring 32., on which the balls B rest and by which they are dispensed. This spring 32 is secured to the bottom of 30' the container by a clamp plate 33 that extends through the bottom 30' and a bolt 35 that extends through the clamp plate 33 and the bottom of the container and the upper side of the box 21, and a clamp plate 36 within the box and then secured by a nut 37 tightened upon the bolt 35 inside the box space 23 Within the upper end of each container is a ring 33 through which the balls B are dispensed. A curved spring strip is secured to the side of the container 30 or 31 by solder 39' and extends upwardly and curves forwardly over the open top of the container to hold the balls B in place against the action of the internal coil dispensing spring 32. The curved spring strip 39 can-bend or give upwardly and rearwardly as a ball B is removed from the container and is readily returned to prevent the succeeding ball from being dispensed until it is in turn lifted from under the curved spring strip 39. I 7

While the containers 30 and 31 are'secured to the box 21 and held on their lower'ends thereby, such means is insufl icient for securing the open ends of the containers 30 and 31 against the front press frame 16. For this purpose, there is provided a tension spring 40 which can be stretched to permit the containers 30 and 31 to be placed thereunder and which is secured to the upper press bolts 17 by attaching members 41 and 42 carried on the respective opposite ends of the tension spring 40. Upon the containers 30, 31 being removed the spring 40 will be drawn flush against the upper end of the press frame 16. The containers 30 and 31 can be prepared from standard containers by placing a hole in the bottom 34 thereof through which the bolt 35 can be extended and by securing the curved spring 39 to the rear side of the container. By this construction, it may be convenient to prepare each new container and thus the same containers can be filled with tennis balls from a new container. The tennis player is thus ableto have six tennis balls readily available in containers and from which one ball at a time can be dispensed without the container having to be removed from the racket press each time it is desired to remove a ball therefrom.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 6 to 10, there is shown the modified dispenser 50 in which the standard tennis ball containers can be detachably secured to the dispenser. This dispenser has a base plate 50' conforming generally to the shape of the racket press P. The corners of baseplate 50' are provided respectively with holes 51, 52, 53 and 54 through which the respective bolts 17 of the racket press P are extended when the wing nuts 18 have been removed therefrom. Thereafter, the Wing nuts are threaded upon the bolts and tightened and the base plate 50 is in turn secured upon the racket press P, in flush engagement with the top press frame 16. At the top of the base plate 50 are laterally-spaced outwardly-struck loop portions 57 and 58 for a purpose that will be later mentioned.

At the bottom of the base plate 50' are two outwardlystruck parallel guideway portions 55 and 56 adapted to receive and support an article-carrying box 59. This box has sides 60 and 61 and small ends 64 and 65 extending downwardly and inwardly-turned from the respective sides 60 and 61 are respectively guideway portions 62 and 63 adapted to underlie the outwardly struck guideway portions 55 and 56 of the base portion 50'. To assemble the box 59 upon the base plate the end of the box is aligned with the ends of the base guideway portions 55 and 56 and the box isslid laterally into place in the manner illustrated in Fig. 6.

The side 60 of the box 59 is provided with hinge pro jections 66 to which a cover 67 is hinged. On the side the bottom end of an internal dispensing coil spring 77 is anchored. The upper end of the hanger 73 has a shoulder 78 and an upwardly and inwardly-curved spring finger 79 that serves to retain tennis balls B in the respective standard containers 80 and 81 which are adapted to be carried upon the respective hangers 73.

The respective containers 80 and'81 have upwardlydepressed bottom end plates 80 and 81'. into and against their rims respective projections 83 and 84 on the side 4 60 of the box 59 extend and engage to hold the containers and the hangers 73 against outward displacement from the base plate 50'.

To assemble the tennis ball carrier and dispenser, upon the racket press P, the new containers and 81, in which the tennis balls come, are opened at their upper ends and the tennis balls B temporarily removed therefrom. With the box 59 removed, these containers are extended upwardly under the hangers 73 to a position so that the upper edge of the open containers engage with the shoulders 78 of the hanger and these shoulders 78 in turn respectively engage the loop portions 57 and 58 to hold the hangers against upward displacement upon the base plate. With the containers 80 and 81 home the box 59 through its guideway portions 62 and 63 are extended over the inwardly struck portion 55 and 56 of the base plate 50 until the projections 83 and 84 have registered respectively with the bottom end plates 86 and 8-1 of the respective containers 80 and 81. Thus by the box 59 the containers 80 and'81 are held against downward displacement upon the base plate 50 and by the projections 83 and 84 they are held against outward displacement therefrom.

The tennis balls B are then returned to the containers 80 and 81 and the dispensing springs 77 are compressed and the balls held therein against outward displacement by the curved spring ends 79 of the hangers 73. The box 59 can have been loaded with various articles which a tennis player may carry with him or her and with the box slid upon the base plate 50 it can be easily opened by releasing the catch 70 from the projection 71 and lifting the cover 67. The tennis balls B can be removed one at a time as they are needed and without releasing the other ones. The same containers can be used over again or removed and the containers in which new balls are pur chased can be used.

These containers of course, particularly with the first form of the invention and the entire dispenser can be made in a fanciful manner and as trophies. If the containers and the dispenser are in the nature of a trophy, the player will be able to constantly display to the public the reward which he has won. The trophy can be a base plate and box and the ball and containers made especially by the manufacturerto match therewith. It will be seen that these dispensers are easily mounted upon the racket press P by simply removing the wing nuts from the bolts in the corners thereof, placing the base plate over the bolts and upon the press frame and then replacing the wing nuts and tighten them to hold the dispenser flush upon the racket press.

While various changes may be made in the detail construction, it shall be understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by'the appended claims.

' What is claimed is:

l. A tennis ball carrier and dispenser comprising a base plate adapted to be releasably secured to a tennis racket press flush against one frame face thereof, a tennis ball container opened at one end and from which tennis balls may be dispensed, means for supporting the lower end of the container extending outwardly from said baseplate, a dispensing spring for the tennis ball disposed within the container, an upwardly and inwardly curved spring finger associated with the container for releasably retaining the tennis balls within the container against the action'of the dispensing spring but permitting the dispensing of the ball when forceably removed from thereunder, a hanger depending from the curved spring finger and supporting the dispensing spring within the ball container upon the bottom thereof, and shoulder means upon the spring finger and hanger for-holding the container against upward displacement from the hanger. v

2. A tennis ball carrier and dispenser pas defined in claim 1, and said hanger and spring finger being releasably secured to said base plate, the upper end of said base plate having an outwardly struck loop portion, said spring finger being extendable through said loop portion up to the shoulder means, said base plate having laterallyextending outwardly-struck guideway portions and said means for supporting the bottom of the container comprising releasable means slidable along the outwardlystruck guideway portions under the bottom of the container.

3. A tennis ball carrier according to claim 1, in which the base plate has laterally-extending outwardly-struck guideway portions, and the said means for supporting the bottom of the container comprising means slidable along the outwardly-struck guideway portions under the bottom of the container.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Smith Oct. 25, Jaskiewicz et a1. July 1, De Haan June 5, Armstrong May 23, Ritter Aug. 25, Bishop Mar. 26, Gielow Jan. 5, Haines Dec. 17,

FOREIGN PATENTS =France Mar. 4, 

